The Hours After
by Perfectly-Imperfect-447
Summary: Aang comes home late after Yakone's trial. Katara is worried about why he was so late. These are the hours after Aang took Yakone's bending. Kataang! Small hint of Linzin! One-shot! First A:TLA Fanfic, tell me what you think! Momentarily in the LOK category. Formerly Known as Cali-447


**Hi there! This is my first ATLA/LOK fanfic! I've had this idea since _Out of the Past_ from Legend of Korra aired.**

**I wasn't sure what to categorize this as, so tell me if it needs to move to the other show.**

**I hope you all enjoy.**

* * *

Aang hoped that Katara would be asleep already.

It had been a few hours since Yakone's trial, but night had already fallen and Katara had always preferred for him to be back earlier than that. He had to make a stop to help Sokka and Toph make sure Yakone would not be able to escape with the help of his crime associates.

He stretched before quietly turning the doorknob of his home near Republic City. They were there only for a few weeks but he still wanted his family to have a stable home to visit.

He walked in slowly, careful not to wake anyone. He shut the door behind him and sighed.

Safe, for now. He took one step and immediately the floorboard creaked.

"Where have you been?" Katara asked, as she sat on the chair closest to the door.

Aang groaned and face palmed himself.

How could he have believed that she was already asleep?

"I was with Sokka and Toph, putting Yakone away in prison." He answered as he walked closer to his wife.

"But why are you so late? It shouldn't take that long to simply throw him in a jail cell." She pried, worried.

Aang leaned down to place a kiss on her lips as he brought her to the couch.

"He is a bloodbender Katara, he needed special facilities." Aang replied.

_He was a bloodbender._ His brain responded

Aang silently reprimanded himself as he pulled Katara closer.

Katara let out a relieved sigh.

"Oh thank goodness. I was so worried that something had happened to you." Katara said, pulling him into a tight hug.

Aang groaned in discomfort.

Katara looked at him with worry as she pulled away.

"What is it? What's wrong?" She asked quickly

Aang shook his head and stood up.

"Nothing, I'm just tired. It's been a long day. I think I might go to sleep." He answered

"Aang wait!" Katara said grabbing his arm.

Aang moaned again as Katara stood up and pulled up his sleeve.

Aang's veins were popping up from his arm. Each looked as if they were ready to explode. His arm was slightly red, as if time had passed since the injuries occurred.

Katara looked at it in shock, carefully and tenderly running her hand over the obvious veins. She looked up at Aang's face, which looked away in guilt.

"Aang, what happened?" She asked firmly.

Aang sighed and pulled his arm away from Katara's grasp.

"Yakone happened." He answered.

Katara looked at him in confusion, before realizing what he meant.

"Did he do all this? How long ago?" She said angrily

"It was at the trial, Sokka pronounced him guilty and he blood bended everyone in the courthouse." He answered quietly

Katara looked at Aang in anger.

"Who else was in that courthouse?"

"Toph, her Metal ben-"

"Toph?" She interrupted

Katara quickly left the room and came back with a coat wrapped around herself.

Aang stared at her as she walked around the house quickly.

"Where are you going?" He asked her.

"I'm going to go pay Yakone a visit. Nobody hurt my friends and family and gets away with it."

"Katara, calm down. There's nothing to worry about."

At this Katara turned around and rushed to her husband, her index finger pointing to his neck because of their height difference.

"Nothing to worry about? Nothing to worry about! That monster just blood bent you, my brother, Toph, and a whole courthouse full of innocent people! How am I not supposed to worry? I thought when we outlawed blood bending, everyone would be protected. Imagine if he had hurt Toph seriously? She wouldn't be able to take care of Lin. And she's just as old as Tenzin! I'm going down there to-"

"To do nothing. He's not going to be a problem anymore!"

"How can you say that? You said it yourself, he's a bloodbender! Who knows how long until he managed to get out and get revenge on all the people in the courth-"

"Katara, I took his bending away." Aang said, looking away from his wife.

Katara stopped her rant and stared at Aang's disappointed face.

Her angry features suddenly dropped to their regular gentle and caring.

"Oh Aang. I'm so sorry."

She reached over and cupped his cheek with her palm.

Aang turned to face her again. He held the hand that was cupping his cheek. Katara pulled him over to the couch again and sat down.

"I felt like a failure. It's my job to protect the world and I couldn't do that. I had to resort to using my biggest power and even that can't stop everything he's done. I said I never wanted to do that again." Aang said softly

"Aang, you are not a failure. You have done so much for the world already. I know how you feel, but you can't let it get to you. Yakone won't be hurting anymore people forever. You've done your job, and you've done it well."

Aang looked at Katara and smiled. He closed the gap between them and placed a kiss on her lips.

"Eww." A chorus of voices said from the hall.

Aang and Katara turned around to see Kya, Bumi, and Tenzin with disgusted looks on their faces.

"What are you doing up?" The parents asked in unison.

"Me and Bumi heard you guys yelling. We woke Tenzin up because we knew he'd get mad at us if we left him behind again." Kya answered.

"I would not get mad!" Tenzin argued.

"Yes you would so stop arguing." Bumi exclaimed.

"Hey, be nice to your brother Bumi." Aang responded.

The three siblings became quiet as their parents invited them over to the couch.

"What's a bloodbender?" Tenzin asked as they were all comfortably sitting on the couch.

"They're people who use water bending for evil. To hurt other people." Kya said.

"Yes, and they're very dangerous. That's why I made sure they were illegal." Katara continued

"And this Yakone person just hurt Dad?" Bumi asked

Aang rubbed his children's backs softly.

"Yes, he did. But I promise you, for as long as I am alive. I will never let any of them hurt you. You will never have to worry about them again."

Kya and Bumi looked at each other with worried glares but stayed silent. Tenzin, however, was smiling and gladly hugged his father.

Katara looked over to her children and noticed the two older children's expressions.

"Since we're all up, why don't we make some nice tea for everyone? Zuko brought a really nice one the last time he was here. Kya, Bumi would you like to help me?" Katara said as she got up from the couch.

They quickly followed her and got most of the supplies ready as she found the tea leaves.

"What's wrong now?" She whispered to her children.

"Dad's not going to be able to protect us from everything, is he?" Bumi said, his playful demeanor gone, replaced with childish worry.

Katara turned to Kya and the younger water bender nodded.

"Your father is going to do whatever he can do protect you. He will tear down mountains and run faster than the wind to make sure all of you are safe and sound." Katara responded, looking at her two older children with care.

"You don't mean literally do you?" Bumi asked

Katara and Kya looked at him with confusion.

"I'm just saying. Dad CAN do all those things." Bumi said, with a smile.

They all started to laugh as the tea pot began to whistle to signal that the water was ready.

Kya and Bumi grabbed the cups and tray while Katara carried the pot.

They set them down on the table in front of the couch, where Tenzin was being amazed by Aang's spinning marbles.

They all settled around the table and Katara began to serve the tea.

"Ooh Mom! Can I do it?" Kya asked.

Aang and Katara looked at each other before nodding.

Kya set the pot down on the table and began to bend the tea into a stream of water. She flourished the tea around the room before making in land into the five teacups.

They all clapped for her as she took her bows.

"Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week." She said, smugly.

* * *

The tea was drunk, the fire almost in embers, and the children all half-asleep.

Katara and Aang carefully brought each of their children to their rooms and tucked them in.

Tenzin, however kept asking questions.

"But how do the marbles spin?" He whined.

"I'll teach you when you're older. I promise." Aang whispered to him

Tenzin pouted but still nodded his head in agreement.

"Who knows. Maybe if you fall asleep right now, we'll ask Toph if Lin can come over tomorrow?" Katara added to soothe the grumpy child.

Tenzin's face remained upset, but his eyes gleamed with excitement.

"Fine. I guess she can come over." He answered.

Aang chuckled and turned off the lamp in his son's room. He led Katara out of the room and into the living room where the mess of tea time was still waiting.

They quickly cleaned up and Katara settled Aang down to heal his swollen arms.

They talked quietly about their children's lessons. How Kya was excelling in her waterbending lessons. How Bumi was always challenging Sokka to battles and duels with his newly forged sword. How Tenzin was only a few years away from earning his tattoos.

"Thank you Katara." He answered when she was finally finished healing him.

"You're welcome. Thank you for coming home safely." She answered quietly, as she put away the bowl of water.

She drew closer to the couch and Aang and Katara embraced tightly as they thought of the three children whose lives depended on both of their well-beings. Aang wouldn't always come home and Katara wouldn't always be there to fight their major battles.

The hours they had now were important, the hours when they were together and safe.

The hours of the battle, where they were separated and hurt, could soon be forgotten.

But it was the hours after that mattered the most, the hours where they relied on each other at their lows to help reach their highs.

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**Author's Note:**

**Thank you so much for reading! **

**I really appreciate it!**

**Please leave a review telling me how I did!**

**-Cali-447**


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